PHOTO GALLERY: Jake Bugg | Palais Theatre | melb | 27.7.16

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Lets me honest, Jake Bugg possesses more talent in his then I have in my entire body. The 22-year-old from Nottingham has been captivating audiences since the massive release of his 2012 self-titled album. Since then, he’s played a tonne of shows and has released a further two albums.

He opened with the reflective track ‘On My One’ that sees him sing about his strong career to date and how he is still feeling a little lonesome. Though opening is usually dynamic and high-octane, his opening performance was a much more mellow affair. Not that it’s a bad thing, there’s something very beautiful about being captured into his world from early on that I can’t fault.

‘Two Fingers’ was next up in his set; the song is also one of the biggest songs of his career. Receiving a roaring cheer, his performance got everybody inside Palais Theatre excited. It’s so hard to believe he is only 22, I mean, this guy has some major hits. ‘Seen It All’ is another one of his big hits, and a personal favourite of mine. The biggest thing to take away from his live sets is his storytelling ability he conveys in recorded music truly comes to life when he performs life. It’s something that is very special to witness live.

New song ‘Never Wanna Dance’ is something a little different from what he has done previously. Though this song wasn’t one of my favourites when I first listened to his album, there is something about it that grew on me when I saw him play it live.

‘Kingpin’, another Bugg classic, gave the people what they want. Despite the track making you want to have a dance, the lame rules at Palais don’t allow people to stand up (so, fans had to resort to having an in-chair dance, which you can imagine wasn’t as fun). Get it together Palais, and stop being the fun police. It has to be one of the downsides of gigs at that venue. A serious mood killer if you ask me.

After playing I'm guessing almost 20 odd tracks, Bugg ended his set with two older favourites ‘Broken’ and ‘Lightening Bolt’.

Maybe because this the third time I've seen him live, his performance style wasn’t too dissimilar from his previous shows. Not that it’s a bad thing as it’s always a pleasure to see him live, though everything was as I expected it to be.

Bugg dominated Palais without missing a beat. As he continues to release more music, I’m curious to see how he chooses his set. With so many hits at a young age, he has the world in his hands right now.